


You're My Brother

by Allain_Kelyarus



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Missing Nightwing, Worried Batfam, probably inaccurate medical stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 00:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16419215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allain_Kelyarus/pseuds/Allain_Kelyarus
Summary: On some level Jason knows Dick feels guilty about how he treated Jason before he died. He doesn’t realize how deep that guilt runs until Dick goes missing and when he turns up he doesn’t want to let Jason out of his sight.





	You're My Brother

Three days pass before they all realize Dick is missing.

It takes three days because it’s not like they see him every day since he works and stays in Bludhaven.

Bruce realizes something is wrong when he tries to get in touch with Dick after he misses a meeting they had planed for a joint case they’re working. He checked several times for any notification from Dick that he’d be late for their meeting and after hours pass he begins trying to reach him. There’s no response and he leaves a couple of messages trying not to worry. Dick is an adult he can take care of himself. The next day after work and still no response he goes looking.

Alfred worries when he doesn’t receive Dick’s usual phone call to check in. Dick has always called him since the first time he left the manor and moved in with the Teen Titans. Dick may have been upset with Bruce, but he’s never had any problems with Alfred and loves talking with him. They both have fond memories from when Dick was younger and would sit in the kitchen watching Alfred cook while he rambled on about things only a child could come up with. He fretfully waits for any news.

Tim gets a bad feeling when he sends Dick info he found on the case he’s working and doesn’t get a response. Dick _always_ responds even if it’s just a quick thank you. Usually within the first ten minutes if not immediately. So, Tim gets a bad gut feeling something is wrong but realizes he could just be overreacting. People get busy after all and Dick always seems to have a lot on his plate. He accompanies Bruce after work when he goes to find Dick.

Damian becomes suspicious because for some reason Grayson has made it his mission in life to “bother” him as much as humanly possible whether by calling, texting, or showing up in person with a flying tackle hug. When he hasn’t received anything from him in three days he’s not entirely sure what to think. Each time he checks his phone he’s met with his empty phone background. Should he call?... His face darkens when his father and Drake return home and tell him they couldn’t find him.

And Jason… well he doesn’t really notice until Tim calls him and tells him Dick is missing. That they’ve checked his apartment and several safehouses as well as asked the police station who haven’t heard anything either. No one can get in touch with him. Jason says he hasn’t seen or heard anything and agrees to go to the Batcave to meet up with everyone. He’s only going because this could be someone targeting all of them and not just Nightwing. At least… that’s what he tells himself.

When Jason pulls into the Batcave on his bike everyone is already there huddled around a large table near the Batcomputer. There’s images of Dick and dates displayed on the monitor while spread out along the table is a detailed map of Bludhaven.

“I’m just being realistic.” Tim is saying as Jason removes his helmet and begins approaching the group.

“And I am simply pointing out your stupidity.” Damian responds venom in every word.

“Ugh, are you even listening to yourself right now?”

“It’s quite hard to hear myself think with you constantly spouting nonsense.”

“That’s enough both of you!” Bruce interrupts them before the conversation can devolve any further. Damian and Tim resolve to simply glare at each other in the meantime. This argument clearly isn’t over.

Jason slides right into the group next to Tim. He looks over the map and notices the markings covering it. It’s likely color coded based on Dick’s last known whereabouts.

Damian turns his glare to Jason as soon as he walks up and says, “Nice of you to finally join us, Todd.”

Tim rolls his eyes and Jason flat out ignores him. As much as he enjoys getting under the kid’s skin he’s not here for bickering. Besides he kind of expected the kid to be more prickly than usual. Dick is the favorite after all.

“What have we got?” Jason wastes no time asking. The sooner they figure this out the sooner he can leave.

Bruce takes over the conversation then and catches Jason up on everything they have so far. “Dick was last seen Saturday night. Nightwing along with local police took down a large illegal weapons operation and once cleanup was underway he headed off presumably to patrol for the rest of the night and then head home. Dick had Sunday off from the precinct, so it wasn’t until Monday when his coworkers knew something was wrong. They tried contacting him and received no answer. By Tuesday they were doing some digging of there own before filing a missing person’s report. Except they don’t know what we know so their investigation is limited. Tim and I have already checked his apartment. It’s clean. In fact, it’s too clean like someone was trying to get rid of any evidence of what took place there. The cameras were wiped too. We looked at his safehouses as well and they’re all clear. So, it’s likely whatever happened took place at his apartment Saturday night.”

Jason nods at the information. It makes sense. What they really need to know is who and why. “Any leads on who’s behind this?” Jason questions.

“Nothing solid.” Tim answers. “Being a vigilante gives you a lot of enemies and we can’t necessarily rule out all the ones with an alibi because they could have easily gotten someone to do their work for them.”

Jason sighs. Things don’t look good. Dick has already been gone for four days now. That’s a lot of time. Whoever has him could be doing anything to him. He finds himself having to unclench his fists from where they came to rest on the table.

“I’m assuming the trackers turned up nothing?” Jason asks.

“Signal interference began shortly after Dick left the crime scene to the police which is why we can’t be sure if he headed straight back to his apartment or not. All three trackers he had on him were affected. It drops completely right here.” Bruce explains and points out the location marked by a red pin on the map. It’s not very far from the crime scene with the police so not much can be gained from it.

“And there’s been no attempts at contact?”

“No.”

That’s something they’ve all been trained on. If you’re taken do whatever you can to let the others know especially if you’re in a situation that you can’t get out of easily. They all know the longer you’re held in captivity the lower your chances of survival become. It’s another thing entirely that no one has taken credit for it. Boasting about having taken down Nightwing or demanding ransom for Bruce Wayne’s son.

“Tt. I am positive Grayson has left something. We just need to look harder.” Damian speaks up glaring at the map on the table as if that will help tell them where Dick is.

“I’m telling you we’ll get farther investigating who’s behind this rather than looking for something that’s not there.” Tim states, and Jason gets the feeling the argument from before he arrived has come full circle.

Bruce sighs. He’s been listening to the two of them argue since they realized Dick is missing. They both want the same thing. He doesn’t understand why they have to be at each other’s throats over this.

“You’re both right. Tim start looking into the alibis of every criminal that’s crossed paths with Nightwing focusing first on those in Bludhaven. Damian you can go over Dick’s tracks and check over his apartment again. We need to cover all our bases, so we don’t miss anything.” Bruce declares. Hopefully with specific assignments they’ll have less time to argue and can get more done.

With that settled he turns to Jason. “If you don’t mind could you add any interactions you’ve had with Dick to the timeline on screen. We’ve started by going back the past two months. There’s no telling when whoever took him started planning this.” And this was definitely planned. There would be more evidence if it wasn’t. It takes time to create a plan to get the drop on someone with as much training and experience as Dick.

Surprisingly, Jason doesn’t make any quips about being told what to do. He simply nods and takes a seat at the Batcomputer. It’s terrible to say but the family only ever really comes together when one of them is in trouble and even then, it has to reach a certain threat level.

They all continue to work but there really isn’t much to go on. They agree to come back together when one of them has something and everyone goes off with their own assignments. It doesn’t take long for the media to figure out Richard Grayson, billionaire Bruce Wayne’s son and beloved cop in Bludhaven, has gone missing. They’re relentless in their search for answers but neither the family nor the police give them much to report on. They start camping out at the manor, the police station, and Wayne Enterprises. Only adding stress to the entire situation.

Bruce takes the brunt of it. Even though he’s steadfast about not commenting and directing the media to the police if they have questions about the case the media don’t let up. It’s nothing he hasn’t handled before though. It’s when the press tries to corner Damian at his school for a statement that Bruce actually focusses on getting them to back off.

Long nights turn into even longer nights for Tim. There’s an overabundance of information to go through and even splitting some with Jason still leaves a lot. With not much to go on except for an eerily clean crime scene it’s difficult to pinpoint a culprit. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible and if he has to get even less sleep than usual to figure this out he will.

Damian starts with the apartment because that’s the most likely place for Grayson to have left something. At the same time, he plots the potential ways someone could have caught Nightwing off guard. After all that’s the only way they could have taken him. Whether it was during his patrol or after he arrived back to his apartment is the question. It’s frustrating how competent the perpetrators have turned out to be by cleaning up behind themselves. However, they must not know who they’re dealing with because they’ll find them and when they do there will be hell to pay.

Alfred hates times like this when he has to wait around for everyone else. He’s too old for all the worrying he has to go through with this family. Sadly, he’s used to it though and knows how to help. It’s at high stress times like these where everyone needs the most looking after. They all tend to neglect their health and it’s up to Alfred to make sure they have everything they need and don’t burn out.

Jason can’t imagine how they got the drop on Dick. He’s like Bruce with backups for his backups that have backups. It’s also disconcerting that they haven’t received anything whether from Dick or whoever has him. “Questioning” the criminal underworld comes up empty and no one seems to know anything about a plan to abduct Nightwing or any attack on the Bats beyond the usual suspects who like to antagonize Batman.

Progress is slow and only comes in the form of eliminating who isn’t responsible which still leaves a long list regardless. There isn’t a real break in the case until after the ten-day mark and really, it’s what no one expected.

An alert goes off at one of Jason’s safehouses while he’s out patrolling. It’s a slow night and he was already considering turning in, so he could get back to the investigation. He decides to check it and then call it a night.

He observes the place from the outside before going in. From what he can tell there’s only one intruder and with the way they’re moving around it’s probably a robber looking for valuables. How unfortunate for them they picked the wrong target.

Climbing up the fire escape he reaches his window. He disables the alarm placed there and carefully unlocks the window. He doesn’t want the intruder to hear him coming. Slipping in and closing the window behind him he looks around his room. It’s a mess really. The drawers have all been pulled out the dresser, everything that was in the closet has been taken out and scattered, clothes are thrown across the floor along with just about everything else he had in this room. This burglar must be stupid. They’ve turned on every single light the place has, and he can hear them running around in the living room.

He readies one of his guns and gets closer to the door while still keeping himself concealed. He peeks out a little from behind the wall to track the thief’s movements. What he sees though has him shocked and wondering if it’s possible he hit his head out on patrol and he’s actually passed out in an alley somewhere.

It’s Dick he finds ransacking his place and from what he can hear he’s talking to himself too. None of it is clear enough for him to hear properly but with how fast Dick is muttering he doubts he’d even understand him if he was standing right next to him. He’s not sure how to play this. From the looks of things Dick doesn’t seem to have any major injuries. For some reason he’s dressed in navy blue scrubs and barefoot. His hair is sticking up in all directions despite or perhaps because of the hand he’s constantly running through it. His eyes are wide and honestly, he looks panicked.

Holstering his gun, he decides on a slow approach. He keeps a hand on his weapon since Dick could be hopped up on something and right now there’s no telling what. Meaning he could be hostile. He puts more weight in his steps to alert Dick to his presence as he slowly makes his way towards him. Dick’s head shoots in his direction at the sound of his footsteps and Jason stops. Raising one hand in a placating manner but still cautious of how this could turn out.

“Hey.” He greets.

Dick screams his name in return and comes barreling towards him with his arms outstretched for… a hug?

It’s not unusual for Dick to want a hug but considering the circumstances Jason doesn’t let his guard down. Dick squeezes him too tight but again that’s not unusual for a hug from Dick. What is though is what he’s saying.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry! I promise things will be better. Please forgive me.”

“Whoa, slow down there what are you talking about?” Jason asks.

“Everything. All of it. I’m sorry.” Dick replies and buries his face into Jason’s neck. He continues to mumble out apologies and Jason decides to use their close proximity to take a minute to pat him down. He checks for injuries and any weapons and comes up clean which means he’s probably been injected with something. His first thought is fear toxin, but Dick doesn’t seem to be afraid right now it’s more like he’s anxious and worried. About what Jason’s not exactly sure.

He pats Dick on the back to try and get his attention but that doesn’t really work so he has to physically move Dick’s head, so he can look at him. The fact that Dick is unmasked doesn’t escape him, but they can deal with that fact later.

“Where have you been Goldie? What happened?” Jason tries to get some answers.

“I know, I know. It looks bad, but I couldn’t… It was so cold all the time I don’t… I’m so glad I found you.” Dick rambles not really answering Jason’s questions.

It’s clear to Jason that Dick isn’t coherent enough for this conversation right now, so he goes ahead and calls it in. He detaches himself from Dick despite the protests. He goes around turning off all the lights and moving things into piles he plans to straighten up later as he explains the situation to the rest of the Bats. He called Bruce, but everyone was patched into the call. All the while Dick follows him around like a lost puppy. Jason barely has any room to breathe and several times has to stop to tell Dick to back up or stop touching things.

After giving Dick, who’s oddly complacent about this, another pat down to make sure there aren’t any trackers hidden away on him he does his best to steer Dick downstairs to his bike, so he can take him to the Batcave. He doesn’t have to worry about Dick holding on because as soon as they’re both seated on the bike Dick grips him with the same force as the hug from earlier.

They arrive in record time and the others including Alfred are already there waiting. Jason has to remove Dick’s arms from around him before either of them can get off the bike. Jason takes off Dick’s helmet for him and then they’re surrounded by the others.

“Where have you been?”

“Who did this?”

“What happened?”

They all want answers, but Dick ignores them in favor of trying to get closer to Jason who stepped back when the others approached.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asks looking between his two eldest.

“Like I said he’s probably been dosed with something. He’s extremely clingy right now. More so than usual.” Jason answers as Dick comes to stand beside him again. He grabs Jason’s hand and mumbles an apology.

“Why is he apologizing?” Tim asks turning to look at Jason.

Jason just shrugs. “He’s been doing that since I found him. Probably has to do with whatever is in his system.”

They all look at Dick and they can see the signs he’s drugged. His eyes are hazy, and his stare is wide eyed. He’s fidgeting and for whatever reason has latched on to Jason. Who by the way is feeling increasingly awkward with the situation.

“We likely won’t get many answers tonight.” Bruce deduces. “We’ll need a blood sample to figure out what he’s been injected with.”

Bruce steers Dick to the medical equipment next to a bed and he only follows because Jason goes with them. Alfred begins taking a few blood samples and once that’s done he’s checking him over. They find needle markings along his side. But otherwise he’s uninjured. He keeps eyeing Jason even as an IV is started to help clear his system.

“Are you hungry?” Alfred asks

“What? No… wait, maybe?” Dick replies after a moment. His confusion is worrying and they all hope it goes away once whatever is in his system is gone. Alfred goes upstairs to prepare some food for Dick.

Damian glares at Jason. “What did you do?” he interrogates.

“What?” Jason responds. “Why the hell would you think I did something to him?”

“Because he’s never this attached to you. You did something before you brought him here.” Damian claims.

“Seriously!? You choose right now to be jealous?”

“I am not jealous!”

“Whatever demon spawn. I brought him here you guys can take care of the rest.” Jason says and then moves to head back to his bike and leave.

Bruce is looking over the needle marks on Dick’s side again trying to determine how long each one has been there to see if they can figure out when he was last dosed. But when Dick realizes Jason is leaving he panics and pushes Bruce away. Dick’s reflexes and strength are apparently fine because he’s up after pushing Bruce away, knocking over a table of medical supplies in his path, and latching on to Jason’s arm faster than anyone else has time to react. The IV they’d hooked Dick up to was unintentionally ripped out of his arm with all the movement and lays uselessly on the floor.

“Wait! You can’t go. It’s not safe. Take me with you.” Dick is begging and gripping Jason’s arm as if his life depends on holding on.

No one says anything for about three seconds as they all catch up with what just happened.

Jason isn’t sure how to react to that. He looks at Dick all wide eyed and worried then to everyone else in the room who are just as confused as he is.

Bruce comes up to them and places a hand to Dick’s shoulder. “Dick why isn’t it safe for Jason to leave?”

Dick huffs at that as if Bruce should know. “It’s not. It just isn’t.” he replies as if that explains everything. Bruce and Jason’s gazes meet. They don’t say anything and Jason hates that he can read the look in his eyes. Bruce wants him to stay. Its obvious Dick isn’t okay right now and for whatever reason being apart from Jason causes him to panic. There’s no telling how long the drug will last, and things will only take longer if they have to tie Dick down for treatment.

“Fine.” Is all he says before looking away.

“Jason is going to stay ok?” Bruce says to Dick who looks to Jason for confirmation.

“Yeah I’ll stay.”

Dick doesn’t relax his grip on Jason until they’re back by the bed. Tim picks up the table along with the medical supplies and Damian changes the needle for the IV, so it can be reinserted.

Alfred returns to find them all in an uncomfortable silence. Its obvious they all have things they want to say but are keeping it all in for now. Really the only thing they can do is wait on the blood test results and since they can’t be sure what they’re looking for the test is going to take a long time as they check for everything.

Alfred gives Dick some sandwiches and water. He takes half of one and stares at it for a moment and then hands it to Jason who tries to refuse but ends up accepting it after a look from Bruce. Dick isn’t satisfied until Jason actually takes a bite out of it. Only then does he begin to eat as well.

This is going to be a long night.

Somehow Alfred convinces Tim and Damian to go to bed. Leaving Bruce to figure out an antidote and Jason to watch over Dick. It’s quiet as Bruce goes over the results from the blood test and begins working on the antidote. He doesn’t say much other than that whatever Dick was injected with it’s something they haven’t dealt with before. Which can’t be good.

Dick is laying back on the bed with the blankets pulled up and one hand reaching out from underneath to hold Jason’s. Jason has taken to sitting in a chair he pulled up to his bedside and trying not to think about how weird and uncomfortable this whole situation is.

The silence in the cave makes Jason’s skin crawl and since there’s no way he’s going to distract Bruce right now that leaves Dick to talk to. Even though more than two hours have passed Dick doesn’t show any signs of feeling tired. Bruce explained after the blood test results were done that he has high levels of adrenaline in his system right now. All they can do is wait for it to even out and before Dick will be tired enough to sleep.

With all this in mind Jason decides to try for some more answers.

“Hey.” He says softly to get Dick’s attention. Dick stops dazedly staring at the ceiling to look at Jason questioningly.

Bruce no doubt heard him as well, but he shows no sign of it.

“Why were at one of my safehouses?” he asks. He feels like this is a simple enough question to start with.

“I was looking for you.” Dick replies and smiles at Jason.

“Why?”

Dick takes a moment as if he’s considering his next words very carefully but it’s no doubt still difficult for him to process things right now. “I had to find you. Make sure you were okay.”

Jason frowns at that. Why would Dick think he wasn’t okay? If anything, Jason should be the worried one. Leaving that alone for a little bit he decides to ask his next question. “Well you see I’m fine so why don’t you want me to leave?”

“Because… I need to protect you. Make sure you stay safe.”

“If you haven’t noticed I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know.” Dick says and he’s smiling again. He sits up and reaches out to ruffle Jason’s hair. Surprised Jason just lets him. “But I’m your big brother. I’m supposed to always protect you.” And then he’s frowning at his own words. “And I haven’t been… I’m sorry.”

Jason isn’t sure what to say to that. This is the reason why Dick has been apologizing and won’t leave him be? He’s upset about not protecting Jason? Jason is sure he hasn’t needed any protection in a long time. Yeah, he might get reckless from time to time but nothing Dick should be this worried about, at least not like this. He’s been abducted and drugged with God knows what but all he can think about is how he hasn’t been there to protect Jason. The two of them are going to need to have a talk once Dick is himself again.

Bruce finishes making an antidote and silently comes over to administer it. He doesn’t say anything but it’s impossible for him to have not overheard all of that. Apparently, he’s deemed it as something between them and will leave them to handle it on their own. He’ll be asking his own questions though later of course.

After giving Dick the antidote and writing up a short report of his findings he decides to leave the two of them alone. He tells Jason to make sure they both get some sleep and then ascends the stairs back up to the manor.

It’s silent in the cave once again.

Dick yawns loudly and rubs at his eyes in a way that would be adorable for a little kid but is weird for a grown man. Jason tentatively tries to release Dick’s hand but all that does it get Dick to look at him and hold on tighter.

“You need to sleep.” Jason says as his way of explaining and honestly, he’s starting to feel drained after all of this.

Dick considers his words and says “Stay. Please.”

Jason sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. He looks around the cave before getting an idea.

“How about this? I push the other bed over here and we both get some sleep. There’s no way we’re both going to fit in yours.”

“Deal.” Dick agrees after a moment. He releases Jason’s hand and simply watches as Jason, who really should have thought this through more, moves another one of the medical beds in the cave by himself. First thing tomorrow (or rather later today) he’s telling Bruce to add wheels to these things.

By the time he’s done pushing the beds together he flops down on top of his tiredly. It’d be better if he could sleep in an actual bed, but this will have to do for now.

He can feel Dick’s eyes on him, so he turns his head to look at him.

“What?” he asks.

“Would you mind if I moved closer?” Dick asks.

Sleeping next to the guy isn’t enough he has to cuddle with him too? He sighs and pretends to be extremely put out by the prospect but moves closer anyway. That’s all he’s going to get out of Jason right now. He’s tired. Hasn’t sleep in who knows how long trying to figure out who took Dick and now with all this emotional crap coming out of nowhere he’s emotionally drained as well. Dick seems happy enough with the gesture and moves closer. Contrary to the crushing force he’d used earlier Dick gently lays his arm around Jason’s middle. Who will swear vehemently in front of a judge he absolutely does not move even closer and snuggle into Dick’s side.

He simply grunts in response to Dick’s “good night little wing.”

Alfred finds them first when he comes to check in on them. They’re cuddled together, and Alfred can’t resist taking a picture of this moment. He has no intention of ever telling them about it. This is one memory he’ll keep to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is so bad. I thought I should at least post something since it's been a while.


End file.
